Mental Health Month

Dear Editor:

On Thursday, April 24, 2014, Governor Sam Brownback signed a proclamation declaring May as Mental Health Month in Kansas. He released a statement saying, "We are here today to remind Kansans that mental illness is a common, painful experience for many people and their families. My administration is working to strengthen the community and institutional supports our state offers those in need of help."

Pawnee Mental Health Services has been providing community supports to people experiencing mental illness since November 19, 1956.

Seven years later, on October 31, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed into law the Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Health Center Construction Act, laying a foundation of funding for community mental health centers and research facilities devoted to the research and treatment of mental illness and intellectual disabilities.

Nearly 50 years later, on January 10, 2013, Governor Brownback announced a mental health initiative in Kansas redirecting $10 million in community mental health funding to five regional recovery support centers to provide intensive services to some of the state's most difficult to treat mentally ill individuals. The Governor also announced the creation of a mental health task force to evaluate the functioning of the community mental health system.

The results of the Governor's Mental Health Task Force Report were released to the public on April 15. The report called for improved access to early mental health treatment, outcomes based approaches to treatment, and access to treatment for those with serious mental illness, regardless of their ability to pay. For a copy of the report, please visit www.kansasbehavioralhealthservices.org.

For more information on Pawnee Mental Health Services, please visit our website at www.pawnee.org or "like" us on Facebook.